Short's Sustenance Black Bier | Short's Brewing Company

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A dark black beer with a thin beige head. Smell is of malt, corn, chocolate, and earthy hops. Taste is thin but crisp mouth feel with chocolate and malt notes. Bit of a sour back end with dirt, earth, and light bitterness from hops. A very drinkable schwarzbier, but not nearly my favorite of this style.

Appearance - 3.5/5
Very dark, almost black, with hints of red-brown along the edges of the glass. A small amount of medium brown head which quickly dissipates to only a thin ring around the edge of the glass.

Smell - 3/5
Some darker earthy and roasty aromas along with a small hops presence.

Taste - 3.5/5
Moderately sweet. Very earthy (dirt-like). Some roasty coffee-esque flavors. A slight sourness to it, which seems to be mixing with the hops to create a slightly sour hops taste. Overall, I like the roasty coffee aspects of this beer, but the earthiness is too strong. I do not like the sourness either (I love sour beers, but this is not that kind of sourness).

Mouthfeel - 4/5
The body is medium-light, but the beer feels much fuller than it actually is. There is a light amount of light-intensity carbonation. Very crisp. I like the crispness and the body. I think the beer could do with just a tad more carbonation. Overall a good feel though.

Overall - 3.5/5
This was an okay beer. I don't know if I would recommend it to anyone or buy it again, but I don't feel upset that I picked this as part of a build-your-own 6 pack.

12 ounce bottle into lager glass, bottled on 2/2/2015. Pours slightly hazy very dark brown color with a 1 finger dense tan head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the head. Aromas of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toast, dark bread, light smoke/char, herbal, and roast/smoke earthiness. Damn nice aromas with good complexity of dark/roasted malt and earthy hop notes; with good strength. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toast, dark bread, light smoke/char, herbal, and roast/smoke earthiness. Fair amount of herbal hop and roast bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toast, dark bread, light smoke/char, and roasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Damn nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roasted malt and earthy hop flavors; with a great roasted bitterness/sweetness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Very clean in lager flavors with zero yeast notes present. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, crisp, fairly creamy, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming present after the finish. Overall this is an excellent schwarzbier style. All around great robustness, complexity, and balance of dark/roasted malt and earthy hop flavors; and very smooth and crisp to drink. A very enjoyable offering.

Taste/feel: Like the smell... tastes like ground up bricks, soil, smokey ash, roastiness, and a bit of chocolate. That should sound disturbing -- and it was disturbing to my dad and sister -- but it's what I thought the beer would taste like, and I enjoyed it. The smoke/ash flavor isn't massive, but it's definitely there, and the chocolate/coffee flavors follow. The feel is a bit thin for my liking, but it does make this a very drinkable beer.

Another tasty brew from Short's. I'm not too sure I like this more than their Black Diamond, which is a pretty similar beer, but it's still one that I'd like to have again when I want a dark beer that's not quite a stout or a porter.